This invention relates to a roof vent device for permitting hot air to escape from an attic area. More particularly, the invention relates to a one sided roof vent for providing a vent on one side of a roof portion to reduce or substantially eliminate rain, turbulence and wind disturbances from interfering with the venting process.
At the present time, roof vents are mounted along the roof ridge to provide a vent from the attic area of a house or other structure, to reduce the build-up of heat in the summer. While venting roofs is a necessary part of house construction, use of auxiliary vents are not cost effective. Specifically, the use of separate exhaust fans and vents adds significant cost to the dwelling and have considerably shorter effective life-spans.
In order to preserve the appearance of the house, the height of the vent is kept at a minimum For that reason, conventional roof vents are open on both sides of the roof ridge, so that they cooperate with a slit or opening in the roof decking to allow air to vent in both directions. Because of this conventional design, the house roof is exposed to high wind, rain and storms in both directions perpendicular to the length of the roof along the roof ridge. This causes damage to the roof deck, sheathing and tarpaper.
It is estimated that, in the United States, westerly driven winds are associated with 90% of the damaging high winds from storms. Manufacturers of conventional two sided roof vents are forced to protect themselves against damage claims by substantial insurance claims. If a conventional vent were to be used on only one side of the roof ridge line, the opening would have to be so large to be effective that even more damage to the roof deck and perhaps other parts of the attic and roof system. A larger opening would not be facing these westerly winds, of course, but the size itself would still provide undesirable access to the interior of the roof.
It would be of great advantage in the art if a roof vent system could be provided that would eliminate significant exposure to prevailing storm winds and the like, while permitting venting of the attic in a simple, easy to install and attractive manner, allowing continuous uninterrupted air flow.
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide an improved roof vent.
Another object is to provide a roof ridge vent device that is easy to install in conventional roof construction, utilizing conventional roof decking construction while providing continuous ventilation.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a roof vent while eliminating at least half of any lift up to which the roof would conventionally be exposed.
Other objects will appear hereinafter.
It has now been discovered that the above and other objects of the present invention may be accomplished in the following manner. The unique aspect of this invention is the use of a vent device for a framed roof structure and the like.
The device is constructed so it may be used at any location on the roof that is in communication with an area of the structure where venting is necessary or simply desirable. For example, the device of the present invention is to be used at any location around a building, including the roof ridge, soffit area, hip area, facia areas, walls, and others, to provide proper ventilation in unventilated or poorly ventilated areas. The present invention may also be used on the walls and/or the roof, or can be used anywhere on a building or other structure where proper ventilation is required or desired.
The device functions such that when used at the ridge, for example, a negative air pressure is developed when wind blows from the no lift side across the ridge and then flows above and perpendicular to the lift up side of the device. The device has a no lift side and a lift side, preferably divided in the middle where the device may, if desired, be able to bend in one or both directions about a center line parallel to the ends of the two sides.
It is not necessary to have the divided middle, and this is a preferred embodiment when the device requires bending. The device can be used anywhere on a structure, and particularly lower on the roof so that the device fits without bending.
The material used to construct this planar one sided lifted vent may be corrugated plastic of a range of thicknesses. Any material that permits air penetration along the axis of desired air flow may be used to construct the device described herein.
The invention permits air to ventilate with only one side exposed to the environment and provides a physics-based solution to drawing air from poorly vented areas. The manufacture of this device is substantially less costly than prior art two-sided lift up vents.